Sunday, September 25, 2011

I've already blogged about these brownies, so I'll keep it short. They are the best brownies ever. The crust, the taste and the fudgieness is perfect. Unfortunately, the blog that contained the recipe is deleted, but I've still got the recipe saved on my computer, and thought I'd share it with you.

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180'c and line a 8 - 9 inch square brownie pan with baking parchment.

Put the sugar in a blender and whiz it into a fine powder. There will
be sugar clouds! Don't skip this step, it's what makes the crust perfect.

Put the sugar into a medium sized mixing bowl and add the oil and the chocolate soya milk. Give it a little stir.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave and add to the sugar/oil/soya milk concoction. Mix well.

Now add the flour and the cocoa and stir like the wind (the chocolate
will be cooling and the mixture will be thickening already).

Now pour/dump the mixture into your pre-lined baking tin, spread it
around a bit (press it into the corners if it's quite thick already) and
stick it in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes
out clean (honestly, I've never timed them. I usually just do the
washing up while I wait. This week I got distracted reading MoFo blogs
and totally forgot about them, and they were still great!).

Cool the brownies completely, then refrigerate for a couple of hours
before cutting. I cut mine into about 16 small squares usually.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

If you go to one of those old school coffee shops in Sweden that's named "konditori" instead of café, you will most likely find a variety of this sweet. They are called "biskvi", and has a bottom made of almond paste that are topped with buttercream and then dipped in chocolate. It's really tasty, and feels a bit elegant and complicated even tough it's super easy to make yourself!

1. Make small rounds out of almond paste and bake until a bit browned at 180° C/350° F, probably about 8-10 minutes. Cool down.

2. Top with buttercream. I used the chocolate buttercream frosting from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, but anyone would work. Play with the taste! I thought about adding a whole raspberry in the centre but didn't have any, but I'm sure that would be awesome.

3. Put them in the freezer for a couple of minutes to firm up the frosting, it will make it easier to dip. Melt some chocolate and dip them into it. Wait until the chocolate is set and eat!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

A couple of days ago I baked cookies for the first time in my new home. I've had my eyes on these sesame cookies ever since Celine posted the recipe on her blog, and they didn't disappoint, rather the contrary, they have a sesame flavour that will fill up your whole body and just the perfect sweetness. Make them and admire their beauty!

Tonight I'm sitting at my new kitchen table planning my Vegan MoFo! It will take place in October this year and is an international event focusing on vegan food on blogs for a whole month!

Saturday, September 10, 2011

It's cold outside in the mornings, and it's getting dark at 8 already.
And although it looks like any other summer's day when you face the sky,
it's painfully obvious that winter is getting closer. I'm not ready
yet, so I happily ignore it which makes me really cold when biking to
school in a thin sweater.

My apartment is slowly getting homey. I still don't have a kitchen
table, a sofa or anything on the walls, but I'm getting there. Having
the freezer full of hand picked berries helps too. Some days ago I made
loads of apple sauce from Martins fathers apple tree, and it's pink and
tastes wonderful! I think it's going to be a glorious food autumn, even
though I'm now a student with a pretty slim budget.

Here's some of what I have been eating lately:

Home fries, carrot sticks and peas with mushrooms. Breakfast of champions.

Apple sauce in the making. This machine is awesome, you don't have to peel the apples or anything, just chop them and boil them quickly and runt i through.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Only one
day after moving in to my new apartment, I left for the north. Sweden is divided into three parts, and the
biggest and most northern one, is called Norrland, which translates into NorthernLand. That’s where I was going,
accompanying Martin and parts of his family to spend the weekend in his
grandfathers cottage. The house, situated by a bog and a lake on a mountain
called “The Bear Mountain”, is built by himself, starting with only a small
part of it that was once a tiny store. It has very little electricity, coming
only from a truck battery, so the main part of the light in the evenings comes
from candles. It was awesome. The nature up there is astonishing, and it’s like
a retreat from people. It’s so quiet, and in the night the sky is filled with
starts you normally can’t see due to light pollution.

The main
event up there was berry picking. We picked lingonberries, billberries,
cranberries, juniper berries and even some mushrooms. Everything grows wild in
the forests and is available for everyone thanks to a law called
Allemansrätten. It means “Everyman’s right”, or “Freedome to roam”. It’s a
wonderful law that makes the forests available for anyone. I came home with 10 litres/42 cups of lingonberries,
which I will turn into jam within the next couple of days. I’ll make sure to
keep you posted about this national jam of Sweden and everything else I make
with my lovely berries.